
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 22, 1993                   TAG: 9311220016
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: ROME                                LENGTH: Short

FAR RIGHT AND LEFT WIN BIG IN ITALIAN ELECTIONS

Italian voters in angry rebellion deserted the long-dominant political center in municipal elections Sunday, turning instead to fresh faces of the left and right.

Up and down a rain-drenched peninsula, voters humiliated the mainline Christian Democrats, limiting the party that has governed Italy without interruption since World War II to less than 10 percent in traditional strongholds such as Rome and Naples. In each city, neo-fascists now make up the largest party.

In cities where there was no outright majority Sunday, the top two finishers will face off Dec. 5.

In Rome, Francesco Rutelli, a Green supported by the now Social Democratic former Communists and other leftists, finished first in a 17-candidate field with about 44 percent. He faces a runoff against Gianfranco Fini, national leader of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, who got about 31 percent.

In Naples, former Communist Party official Antonio Bassolino, candidate of a broad leftist alliance, narrowly missed outright election, with around 48 percent, according to the polls. He faces neo-fascist Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of former dictator Benito Mussolini, in the runoff. She got about 29 percent, making the neo-fascists the single biggest party there.

by CNB